Real estate firms under lens for alleged service tax evasion

NEW DELHI: Suspecting large scale service tax evasion, financial intelligence agencies are carrying out massive searches against various real estate firms across the country. The on-going search operation started a fortnight back in which the evasion by firms providing real estate services including renting and other collaborations was detected, official sources said. The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), a nodal agency for collection and dissemination of intelligence related to financial sector, and Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence found inputs on alleged service tax evasion, the sources said. The sleuths have searched various real estate firms and builders offices in the national capital and in suburban areas including Noida, Ghaziabad,